The mystery of how Stonehenge’s bluestones were transported 160 miles from Wales to Wiltshire has puzzled archaeologists for generations. Some experts say glaciers picked up and deposited the huge rocks in the last ice age, while others have suggested the stones were dragged on rollers or sleds by manpower.

The bluestones of Stonehenge may have been dragged by animals

Stonehenge may have been built with the assistance of cows who helped carry the enormous rocks across the British Isles.

It could help explain how the fabled bluestones managed to complete the journey from Wales to Wiltshire, where Stonehenge still sits today.

Previous research has claimed the movement of glaciers deposited the huge slabs of rock 160 miles away from their original location.

New research has found evidence of cattle being used by humans to pull and carry heavy loads for 8,000 years.

Archaeologists at University College London discovered that the bones in the feet of Neolithic cattle demonstrated distinctive wear patterns, indicative of exploitation as ‘animal engines’.

Neolithic cattle in the Balkans were therefore being used for our purposes two millennia earlier than previously thought

In a new study, archeologists have proposed the claim that Stonehenge and other ancient stone monuments were probably used for special moonlit ceremonies which would have taken place deep in the night. These Neolithic structures have always been thought to have been used primarily in the daytime, as the rocks at various stone monuments are meant to align with the sun, one example of which would be Stonehenge lining up in perfect fashion for the yearly Summer Solstice. (Inquisitr)

An analysis of Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall revealed multiple carvings visible in moonlight or low sunlight – suggesting the stone was viewed at night

Archaeologists Dr Andy Jones of the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and Thomas Goskar found a total of 105 engravings on the axe-shaped stone

Dr Jones believes many more markings would be found at sites across the country if the monuments were looked at in a different light

However, fresh evidence now shows that Stonehenge and other ancient stone

Druids celebrating the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge.

monuments were also very likely to have been used at night for moonlit ceremonies. Dr. Andy Jones, who has been studying the Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall, has found that at this particular site, you can see at least 10 times as many markings on the engraved panel when viewed directly under the moonlight.

Archaeologists have also discovered that at some point, people smashed up many pieces of quartz around the area which would have glowed in the dark and created a very unique effect at night. Dr. Andy Jones has been working in conjunction with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and believes that this phenomenon is probably not limited to the Hendraburnick Quoit, but can also be found at other ancient stone monuments such as Stonehenge, as The Telegraph reported.

“I think the new marks show that this site was used at night and it is likely that other megalithic sites were as well.”

After noticing some very specific markings on the stones that had never been seen before, Dr. Jones explained that the archaeological team then went out at night to photograph the ancient stone monument and discovered even more art which was only truly visible at night and beneath the moon.

“We were aware there were some cup and ring marks on the rocks but we were there on a sunny afternoon and noticed it was casting shadows on others which nobody had seen before. When we went out to some imaging at night, when the camera flashed we suddenly saw more and more art, which suggested that it was meant to be seen at night and in the moonlight.”

With the ancient quartz that is smashed all around the site, this would have created an eerily surreal atmosphere at night next to these ancient Neolithic stone monuments and would have lent magic to whatever nighttime ceremonies were performed at these locations. It is known that Stonehenge also has unusual markings which can only be seen at night, and archaeologists believe that many other stone monuments do as well.

“Then when you think about the quartz smashed around, which would have caused flashes and luminescence, suddenly you see that these images would have emerged out of the dark. Stonehenge does have markings, and I think that many more would be found at sites across the country if people were to look at them in different light.”

At the Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall, there had originally been 13 markings detected on the stone, but Dr. Andy Jones and his colleague Thomas Goskar discovered that there were actually 105 markings here when viewed under different light. Archaeologists now believe that it is extremely likely that nighttime ceremonies were conducted at ancient stone sites like this as the night was associated with the supernatural. Individuals involved in these ceremonies may have smashed the stones to release very special luminescent properties from them, which would explain the many pieces of quartz that have been found at ancient stone monuments like this.

“After the ritual, the broken pieces, once they had fallen on the ground, could have effectively formed a wider platform or arc which would have continued to glisten around it in the moonlight, and thereby added to the aura of the site.”

While Stonehenge and other ancient stone monuments are usually only studied by day, archaeologists will now be trying to discover what may have taken place during these special ceremonies that would have been conducted at night by way of moonlight.

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Senior druid Arthur Pendragon has been told he can take English Heritage to court to challenge “pay to pray” car parking charges at Stonehenge.

King Arthur Pendragonbelieves the £15 parking fee at Stonehenge was “an illegal charge” A senior druid has been told he can take English Heritage to court to challenge “pay to pray” car parking charges at Stonehenge. King Arthur Pendragon argued a parking fee of £15 for the 2016 summer solstice breached his human rights. Parking at the Neolithic monument, managed by English Heritage (EH), usually costs £5. A judge at Salisbury County Court granted Mr Pendragon a full hearing at a small claims court.

Other druids and pagans were at the court to support King Arthur Pendragon, who was joined by other druid and pagan supporters to protest outside the court, believes the £15 fee was “illegal” and excluded 12,500 from the event. He told the judge at the allocation hearing that the claim was not about money or costs, but the fact it “unfairly targeted his religion”. An estimated 23,000 people attended the Neolithic site in 2015 compared to 12,000 in 2016 The increased charge was introduced to encourage more people to car share or travel by bus, but Mr Pendragon said he wanted to prove EH was wrong to turn him away when he refused to “pay to pray”. A spokeswoman for EH said: “This was a procedural hearing establishing the next steps and we look forward to presenting our full case at a later date. “As legal proceedings are ongoing it…

Mr Pendragon asked that the date for the full hearing does not clash with the spring or summer solstice.

The ink wasn’t even dry (or the bits weren’t even embedded in the Cloud) yet on the 2 Comments about a new theory that Stonehenge once stood in Wales before being moved to Wiltshire when a cry rose up from other archaeologists who claim that it was glaciers, not humans, that pushed the monoliths to their current resting place in Wiltshire. Who’s right, who’s wrong and what’s the betting line on the fight?

The feud started with a report last week in the journal Antiquity that archaeologists from University College London (UCL) identified two quarries in Wales that matched some of the bluestones at Stonehenge. The more controversial part of the report was their belief that the stones were made into a monument in Wales which stood for a few hundred years before being toppled and moved to England, making Stonehenge what some were sacrilegiously calling a “second-hand monument.”

Just a week later, Dr. Brian John, Dr. Dyfed Elis-Gruffydd and John Downes thumbed their noses at their peers in a paper published in the journal Archaeology in Wales where they stated that there are “no traces of human intervention in any of the features that have made the archaeologists so excited.”

The stone of contention in this argument is foliated rhyolite debris – fragments of thinly-layered volcanic rock that were found at both sites, prompting the UCL team to declare that they came to Glastonbury with the bluestones from Wales. Dr. John’s team says the Irish Sea Glacier brought the foliated rhyolite debris (a great name for a heavy metal band) 500,000 years ago.

While Dr. John’s team agrees that the Welsh outcrops of Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin show signs of human campgrounds, there’s no evidence the Neolithic humans were quarrying monoliths and building a miniature Welsh Stonehenge. In fact, he suggests that the features the UCL team thought were evidence of quarry activity were actually made by the archaeologists themselves. As Dr. John eloquently puts it:

An expectation or conviction that ‘engineering features’ would be found has perhaps led to the unconscious fashioning of archaeological artifices.

Ouch! But Dr. John doesn’t stop there.

On the contrary, there is substantial evidence in favour of glacial transport and zero evidence in support of the human transport theory … We think the archaeologists have been so keen on telling a good story here that they have ignored or misinterpreted the evidence in front of them. That’s very careless. They now need to undertake a complete reassessment of the material they have collected.

Dr. John has taken the lead. Back to you, team from University College London.

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